What to Pack for the Iron Ore Train in Mauritania

The Iron Ore Train is not a tourist experience that forgives poor preparation. It is a working mining train crossing 704 kilometres of Saharan desert, with no food service, no toilets, no heating, no shelter from wind, and no way to replace anything you forgot between Choum and Nouadhibou.

Most first-timer mistakes happen at the packing stage. The traveler who arrives in Choum without a dust mask will spend the journey breathing iron ore particulate that lingers in the lungs long after the trip ends. The traveler who forgets warm layers will spend the night shivering in a moving steel box channelling desert wind at 40km/h.

Pack right and the Iron Ore Train is one of the most extraordinary experiences available to any traveler anywhere in the world. The 10 to 13 hours from Choum to Nouadhibou — the stars, the silence between stops, the iron ore smell, the dawn over the Atlantic — stay with you for years. Pack wrong and it becomes an ordeal to be survived. Ready to start building your kit? Our booking page has practical guidance on what to source before you arrive.

The temperature on the Iron Ore Train swings dramatically between day and night. In November, the daytime desert might be 28°C — pleasant, even warm. Add the wind chill from a train moving at 40–50km/h and the effective temperature drops sharply. After sunset in the Sahara in November, the air temperature falls to 10–12°C, and sustained wind in an open steel wagon makes it feel genuinely cold.

A sleeping bag rated to at least 5°C is essential for the night portion of the journey. Many travelers who make the trip in December and January recommend a bag rated to -5°C or lower. Do not try to substitute this with an extra blanket — blankets shift, bunch, and do nothing to seal out wind.

Layering works better than a single heavy item. A thermal base layer (merino wool is ideal — it resists odour after heavy use and regulates temperature well), a mid-layer fleece or down jacket, and a windproof outer shell. The outer shell does double duty as dust protection for your other layers. Warm hat and gloves are important for December and January night journeys — they seem unnecessary when packing in a warm city, but at 3am in an iron ore wagon they become critical.

• Sleeping bag rated to at least 5°C (0°C or lower for Dec-Jan)
• Thermal base layer — merino wool preferred
• Windproof outer jacket (also protects other layers from dust)
• Warm hat and gloves for night portion
• Dark coloured clothing throughout — everything gets iron ore stained

There is absolutely no food or water sold anywhere on the Iron Ore Train. Whatever you carry from Choum or Atar is all you have for the entire journey. This is not a guidebook exaggeration — it is the literal situation.

Water: minimum 3 litres per person for the Choum-to-Nouadhibou journey (8–12 hours). In warmer months, 4–5 litres. Drink regularly rather than waiting until you feel thirsty — dehydration in a desert environment outpaces your thirst response.

Food should be practical: high calorie, compact, no refrigeration required, easy to eat with one hand in a moving wagon. Bread bought fresh in Atar or Choum is excellent for the first half of the journey. Dates are calorie-dense, need no packaging to open, and are culturally appropriate. Sardines or tuna in tins with a pull-ring, nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate for energy and morale. Avoid anything that requires cooking, any glass containers, and anything that generates significant rubbish.

Pack food in a small accessible daypack that stays with you in the wagon. You need to reach your water bottle and snacks without unloading all your kit.

• Minimum 3-4 litres of water per person — more in warm months
• Fresh bread from Atar or Choum market
• Dates — essential, calorie-dense, desert-appropriate
• Tinned fish or meat with pull-ring opening
• Nuts, dried fruit, chocolate
• Pack food in a top-access daypack that stays within reach

Iron ore dust destroys electronics. It is conductive, abrasive, and finds its way into every opening — USB ports, headphone jacks, camera sensor chambers, power button gaps. The dust penetrates sealed ziploc bags through micro-gaps if they are not properly closed. Treat electronics protection as seriously as you treat your own dust protection.

For cameras: use a sealed dry bag or waterproof camera pouch as the primary layer, with a ziploc bag inside it. Only take the camera out for actual photography, then reseal immediately. A UV filter on every lens serves as sacrificial glass — replace the filter rather than the lens element. Clean your sensor and the camera exterior every evening at your guesthouse.

For phones and power banks: keep them in inner jacket pockets rather than outer bag pockets. Body warmth also helps batteries perform better in cold night temperatures. A power bank is essential — there is no charging on the train. Bring one with enough capacity to charge your phone 2-3 times, especially if you plan to use GPS tracking throughout the journey.

• Sealed dry bag for camera and lenses
• Ziploc bags for phone, power bank, and any electronics
• UV filter on every camera lens — sacrificial protection
• High-capacity power bank — no charging available on train
• Download offline maps before boarding — no mobile signal in desert
• Silica gel sachets inside camera bag

Packing mistakes cause as much suffering as omissions. The open wagons impose specific constraints that most general packing advice doesn't address.

Do not bring a large rolling suitcase or hard-shell luggage. These are impossible to manage while boarding a moving train, and there is nowhere to place them in an open wagon. All luggage must be soft-sided, portable, and holdable in one arm while the other hand grips the wagon side.

Do not wear white, light grey, or any light-coloured clothing you care about. Everything — and we mean everything — turns iron ore red within the first hour. Treat your train clothing as sacrificial or bring dark colours only.

Do not bring a laptop unless it is triple-sealed in dry bags. The dust infiltration rate for unprotected electronics in an open iron ore wagon is essentially 100%. Do not bring any glass that is not strictly necessary — it is heavy, dangerous if broken, and adds nothing. Avoid bulky food packaging that produces waste you'll have to carry for 12 hours, and leave behind any valuables you cannot afford to lose to dust damage.

In the hour before the train arrives at Choum, run through this sequence. Once the train appears on the horizon, you will not have time or mental bandwidth for last-minute checks.

• Mask on face and goggles accessible immediately
• Sleeping bag accessible at top of bag — you'll want it within an hour of dark
• Water bottle in side pocket of the bag you're carrying
• Food daypack on your back or in your hand
• Phone charged and offline maps downloaded
• Camera in its dry bag, accessible but protected
• All other luggage compressed, straps tucked, handles ready to grip
• Warm layer accessible — even if you don't need it at boarding, you will at 10pm
• Know which wagon type you're aiming for — your guide confirms this at the platform